When students walk in the Three Rivers High School on the first day of the new school year, they will notice there has been a change over the summer.

Leading the school now is Charles Odom, who experienced his first official day as Three Rivers High School principal on July 6.

Odom is coming to the high school from the Dime Box ISD, where he has been the principal for grades pre-K through 12 for the last two years.

In all, he has almost 14 years of teaching experience in four different school districts as a principal, special education teacher, world geography teacher, physical education teacher and an assistant coach and head coach for several sports.

Odom graduated from Southwest Texas State University in 1995 with a bachelors degree in athletic training and a minor in education.

In 1996 he went back to Southwest Texas State for his teacher certification and in 2007 he graduated from Texas A&M Prairie View with a masters in educational administration.

He said he came to Three Rivers because he saw opportunity.

“A larger school has more opportunities,” he said. “It was a positive move.”

When he came to visit Three Rivers, he noticed there were “Go Bulldogs” signs up around the community. He said that shows that the community supports the school and that is important to him.

He said he hopes to be able to bring leadership and structure to the high school and believes in leading by example.

He wants his students to be able to approach him and talk to him and know that he is there to support them in all that they do, whether it be athletics or a UIL academic competition.

He wants a similar relationship with the teachers and he wants to gain the trust of parents.

“I want parents to know they can trust in this administration and know the faculty and staff are doing the best for their children,” Odom said.

Despite the fact that he still has a few butterflies and some nervousness, he thinks that all will work out.

“Once you get in the routine and people adjust to you and you to them, things work out,” Odom said.

Three Rivers Superintendent Kenneth Rohrbach is confident that Odom is the right choice for the district and that all will work out well.

“I am very pleased to have Mr. Odom join our staff,” Rohrbach said. “He came very highly recommended and has been very successful in his previous schools. I feel fortunate to have him join our team.”

Odom is currently residing in Kenedy with his wife and 15-month-old daughter.